I am both horrified and deeply saddened by last night's attack in Orlando. My thoughts and prayers are with the victims, their families, and the Orlando LGBT community. I also want to thank all the first responders who put their lives on the line to save others.

This afternoon, House Democratic Whip Steny H. Hoyer (MD) discussed House Republican leaders' decision to abandon their promise of regular order and close the appropriations process to prevent their Members from having to take tough votes.

House Democratic Whip Steny H. Hoyer (MD) spoke at a press conference today with Reps. Raúl Grijalva (AZ-3), Xavier Becerra (CA-34), Sean Patrick Maloney (NY-18), and Mike Honda (CA-17), as well as Members of the LGBT Equality Caucus and actress and LGBT advocate Laverne Cox, in support of the LGBT Data Inclusion Act.

Wanted to be sure you saw today’s op-ed by Democratic Whip Steny H. Hoyer (MD-5) and Congressman Sean Patrick Maloney (NY-18) in the Washington Post about how House Republicans are bending rules in the House of Representatives to allow discrimination against LGBT Americans.

Wanted to be sure you saw today’s op-ed by Democratic Whip Steny H. Hoyer (MD-5) and Congressman Chris Van Hollen (MD-8) online in The Baltimore Sun about recent actions taken by House Republicans on the Select Panel to Attack Women’s Health to subpoena a reproductive health care practitioner in Maryland and several Maryland health care providers and first responders.

This week, Speaker Ryan and House Republicans are beginning to unveil piece of their policy platform, which they call “A Better Way.” The first plank of Speaker Ryan’s agenda is supposed to address poverty, but the plan is just another attempt to rebrand policies that House Republicans have put forward in the past and that we know won’t lift Americans out of poverty.

Democratic Whip Steny Hoyer (MD) and Congresswoman Barbara Lee (CA), chair of the Democratic Whip Task Force on Poverty, Income Inequality, and Opportunity, released the following statement today in response to the release of House Republicans' first plank in their "Better Way" agenda, aimed at addressing poverty in America.